Best Sound Card

[The JD]

Hello once again everybody! Well, my X800 decided to straighten up and fly right all on its own so my graphics levels in CSS are top notch right about now. However, I wanted to get a new sound card for my system.

I was thinking of buying a new graphics card but then decided against it because of all the major ruckus going on in that particular industry right now. Things like AMD taking over ATi and the news about DX10 cards etc. etc. so I've decided to sit back and let everything play out before I decide to spend some serious cash. My sound system however, could definitely use a makeover right about now. So far, I've been using the crappy sound card that came with my computer -a Realtek something... anyways, I wanted to know if it was wise to buy a good one now or to wait for the new batch of DX10 cards (Are they even gonna be making DX10 sound cards?).

Anyways, I'm looking for a really good sound card. I will be using it for gameplay (CSS) most of the time but since I busted my PC speakers last week, I might be considering hooking it up to a 5.1,6.1 or 7.1 (Which one would you recommend?) Surround System with a Subwoofer etc. you know... the works.

So then, I wanna know which cards are the best ones right about now. I don't mind paying a pretty penny for them if they can perform well. I've heard of a few like the Audigy 2 - the favourite so far, something from Creative which everybody hates because EAX keeps crashing all the games its been tried on, something called the Revolution which I haven't got a clue about and the Hercules Game Theatre XP which I also don't know anything about. So thats where I stand at this moment, if you know anything about harware and can help me out then please do so.

All comments and suggestions are welcome. Thanks.

Edited August 30, 2006 by The JD